BXBX NOVEL Chapter 45: 45: Ritual Refining
"Boss, what kind of beast is this, to go specifically after the viscera?" A government official, lagging half a step behind Lu the head captor, asked quietly.
"Wild wolf," Lu the head captor replied indifferently.
"But the wounds don\'t all seem to be from a wolf," the government official wondered.
Lu the head captor glanced at him and said, "We\'ll talk when we get back."
At those words, the government official shrank his neck and dared not ask any further.
Once the group had left, Chen Mu stood up.
He paid for a bamboo basket and continued on his way as if nothing had happened.
"The smell of blood, the smell of medicine, has Lu the head captor been injured?" Chen Mu wondered.
Upon closer reflection, he shook his head, "That\'s not right. The ingredients in the medicine seem to be those that stimulate the potential of organs, fierce and aggressive medicinal drugs."
His Third Rank Pharmaceutical Technique enhanced his sense of smell, and just a faint whiff of medicine let him detect something fishy.
"Forget it. Better stay out of it."
This Lu the head captor didn\'t seem like a good person.
...
Early in the morning, Chen Mu rose from bed feeling clear-headed and refreshed.
"It\'s been a long time since I\'ve felt this good," Chen Mu stretched lazily.
Ever since he was injured, he always felt groggy upon waking up each day.
Today seemed to offer a glimpse of recovery.
His imitation of the Three Yang Six Lords Pills was aimed more at healing than making money.
He didn\'t have to worry about cost and could increase the dosage.
Lately, he had been pondering medicinal diets to assist in the recovery of his injuries.
He used charcoal to cook medicinal porridge in a sand pot.
Chen Mu sat in a reclining chair, watching the fire while contemplating the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse.
After a while, Chen Mu sighed, "Still no use."
He rearranged the text, but the more he changed it, the more chaotic it became.
After reading each word again, he still didn\'t understand.
About to put it away, a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind.
Chen Mu subconsciously pulled up his gray wall.
Writing: 1666/10000/Second Rank;
Drawing: 1533/10000/Second Rank;
Throwing: 7597/10000/Third Rank;
Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique: 4009/10000/Third Rank;
Cooking: 806/10000/Second Rank;
Pharmaceutical Technique: 626/10000/Third Rank;
Sleeve Sword Technique: 816/10000/Third Rank;
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 1/10000/First Rank;
"I\'m on the board!"
He immediately recited the scripture in silence.
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 2/10000/First Rank;
A faint realization dawned on him.
He felt that the first sentence should be read quicker, and the fifth word should be pronounced with more emphasis.
With that thought, he did as he considered.
Suddenly, the scripture, which had been difficult to articulate, became slightly smoother to read.
His proficiency increased by one point, as expected.
"So the secret lies in the variations of speed and emphasis of speech!"
After a quick breakfast, Chen Mu immediately began reciting intently.
...
The bright moon hung high in the sky.
On the small eastern hill, the intermittent chirping of insects could be heard.
Inside the Ancestral Master Hall of Qingfeng Observatory, there was complete silence.
Moonlight streamed through the open window, casting its light upon the wall.
Graceful script, as if engraved by a flying immortal, covered the entire stone wall.
For some reason, the usually graceful brushstrokes now gave off a strange, snake-like serpentine feeling.
Cheng Yi sat on a cushion, staring intently at the scriptures without blinking.
Suddenly, a masked figure in black leaped in through the window.
"What you asked for is here; where\'s mine?" he said, placing a bronze medicine box on the ground.
"Head Captor Lu, if you want to gain anything, you must have sufficient patience," Cheng Yi said calmly without turning his head.
Lu the head captor quickly looked around to make sure there was no one else, then finally relaxed.
His brows furrowed deeply, his tone mocking, "Is this the understanding you\'ve derived from the backlash that afflicted Feng Ren?"
"Backlash? What are you talking about? The master has simply gone into seclusion," Cheng Yi said indifferently.
"Give me the Five Qi Pill now!" Lu the head captor suddenly burst out impatiently.
"You should eat less of it. Look, your temper is getting worse," Cheng Yi stood up and calmly faced Lu the head captor.
Lu the head captor took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation in his heart, and said coldly, "I understand."
Cheng Yi smiled, pulling out a wax pill the size of a ping-pong ball from his sleeve.
Lu the head captor snatched it eagerly.
"Have you found the person I asked you to find?" Cheng Yi asked.
"I\'ve found four already, only one left," Lu the head captor finally regained his composure and explained with a slight frown, "I\'ve found the person that fits the criteria in the household registry. But his whereabouts are uncertain; it will take some time to find him."
"Good, make it quick," Cheng Yi said indifferently, "They are the best materials for alchemy."
"Can top-tier Five Qi Pills really enhance someone\'s Soul Strength?" Captain Lu couldn\'t help but ask.
"Hasn\'t your strength increased rapidly recently?" Cheng Yi asked with a smile, squatting down to open the bronze box.
A stench of blood rushed out, and inside were human viscera!
A gleam of excitement appeared in Captain Lu\'s eyes.
Despite his diligent martial arts practice for over twenty years, he had only just begun the Marrow Transformation.
Yet, after taking ordinary Five Qi Pills recently, one month of cultivation was faster than the previous year.
If they were top-tier Five Qi Pills...
"Okay, I will find that person as soon as I can," Captain Lu vowed to himself.
He was accustomed to life and death in the government office, with countless ghosts of the wrongfully dead in the dungeons.
It was just a few human lives, after all!
"How should those few be dealt with, extract their viscera for alchemy like before?" Captain Lu asked eagerly, without even realizing his own fervor.
"No, no, no, they are special and must be treated specially," Cheng Yi responded indifferently.
After a brief conversation, Captain Lu leaped out of the window and left.
Cheng Yi silently watched the direction of his departure, "To actually believe in using human viscera for alchemy? What a fool!"
"Blinded by a single leaf. He\'s merely dazzled by the Five Qi Pills," an impeccably groomed, rosy-cheeked, wrinkle-free old Taoist suddenly appeared in the Ancestral Master Hall.
"Master, I\'m going to consecrate the Heartless Bell," Cheng Yi said, carrying the bronze box.
The so-called alchemy using viscera was simply a ruse for Captain Lu.
The real purpose was to consecrate the magic artifact, the Heartless Bell!
"Go on," Feng Ren nodded.
Watching Cheng Yi depart, Feng Ren stood by the window and murmured to himself, "I hope it\'s not too late..."
...
Chen Mu was hopelessly addicted to increasing his proficiency.
Whenever he had time, he would recite in a low voice.
As his proficiency rose, his understanding of the scripture grew.
The content of the scripture was meaningless; what mattered was the pronunciation of the words.
When the nonsensical scripture was read aloud at a special pace and tone, it formed a different pronunciation.
It was like marking English words with Chinese pinyin for pronunciation.
Watching his proficiency climb quickly, Chen Mu was obsessed.
He\'d recite during the day, in the evening, and even ponder over it in his dreams.
...
Half a month later.
On the west side of the small eastern mountain, within a familiar forested hollow.
A large black pig lay unconscious on the ground.
Chen Mu summoned the gray wall.
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 1/10000/Second Rank.
Chen Mu took out the Five Ghosts Bag and placed it on the ground.
He took a deep breath.
A deep and rapid incantation came from his mouth.
Though he was the only one speaking, it sounded like a thousand whispers at once.
A plume of black air rose from the Five Ghosts Bag, gathering mid-air and compressing.
A pale paper figure appeared.
The little paper figure was full of patterns, with the character "Winter" on its back.
"It worked!"
Chen Mu looked at the paper figure with curiosity.
An odd sensation arose.
It was as if he had an extra hand out of nowhere.
"So that\'s how the round-faced Taoist controlled the paper figure that time!"
He thought about making the paper figure move.
And the paper figure floated slowly in mid-air, just as he imagined.
Thinking of the introduction to the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain.
Chen Mu made the paper figure dive under the black pig.
"Rise!"
...
The black pig didn\'t budge an inch!
"It\'s too heavy," Chen Mu realized.
He directed the paper figure to come out and picked a stone about the size of a human head.
The little paper figure floated under the rock, bracing it with its hands and head.
Chen Mu shouted, "Fly!"
...
The rock didn\'t move an inch!
Chen Mu: "..."
He suddenly had an ominous premonition.
A quarter of an hour later.
Chen Mu watched the little paper figure softly hovering amidst the drifting tree leaves, speechless.
Is this supposed to be the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain?
More like the Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain!